Due to the suspicion that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) contribute to the loss of ozone in the atmosphere, many products or types of products which were, or might have been, propelled from containers pressurized with chlorofluorocarbons are now pumped from containers with handpumps. As manufacturers have sought to improve these handpumps, the handpumps have become relatively expensive due to increasing complexity and increasing numbers of parts. In addition, handpumps usually have a relatively high profile which results in containers with the pumps attached consuming shelf space not only for consumers but for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Most of the high profile handpumps now on the market, stack components thereof outside of the neck of the container resulting in the relatively high profiles. In addition, since these pumps utilize relatively large number of components, assembly time and complexity add considerably to costs.
The patent literature includes a number of patents which disclose structures and functions which proport to solve various difficulties in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,072,252; 4,077,549 and 4,728,009, each disclose the same general type of pump now widely used and widely available in which the pump has a relatively high profile and a relatively large number of parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,081 to Castiglione discloses a handpump which has a piston that is pushed from the bottom rather than pulled from the top to lift the piston against the bias of a spring. The pump of this patent does not have a configuration and arrangement of parts which make the pump suitable for use with currently available spray bottles.